Law Professor Wins National Media Award

October 29, 2014

Suffolk University Law School Professor Kate Nace Day has won a 2014 EMMA, the Exceptional Merit in Media Award, from the National Women’s Political Caucus for A Civil Remedy, her documentary on sex trafficking in Massachusetts.

The film tells the story of an American girl who was trafficked for prostitution in Boston at the age of 17, escaped to her family, and survived to finish school and become an anti-trafficking advocate. It also addresses the meaning of justice and the need to place legal tools in the hands of victims.

The National Women’s Political Caucus presents the EMMA awards to honor journalists and media outlets that inform and educate the public about critical issues impacting women’s lives.

"The EMMA is a great honor that will bring the film to the attention of a larger audience,” said Day, who teaches civil, constitutional and international rights of women.

"Many people don’t know the facts about domestic sex trafficking – how young the girls are when they are first enslaved, and the violence used to keep them enslaved.

“I hope that hearing directly from an American girl who was trafficked for sex in Boston will awaken people to the fate of thousands of American girls, help us all see these victims as the girls next door, and inspire changes in our culture, our politics, and our civil and criminal laws."

A Civil Remedy was selected for screenings at the 2014 United Nations Association International Documentary Film Festival and the Council on Social Work Education 2014 Film Festival.

The documentary was produced by Film and Law Productions, the independent film production company founded by Day and her husband Suffolk Law Professor Russell Murphy to present stories as vibrant retellings of law that render visible what law does.

The Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys awarded Film and Law Productions their 2014 Media Award in recognition of the shared ideals of “our organizations to use the civil justice system to get redress for trafficking survivors.”

Day was honored as one of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Top 50 Women of Law in 2013 for her use of documentary film in law teaching, advocacy and law reform.

The other EMMA winners in the television and documentary category were the BBC for Fergal Keane’s report “Human Cost of Syria's Civil War” and Inside Edition for Lisa Guerrero’s news segment “Justice for Juliette.”